How Not to Get Sick on Vacation

At long last, your vacation is about to start. Whether you’re planning to lounge at the beach, cruise the Caribbean, go on Safari, or finally visit those Civil War battlefields, you’re counting the minutes until departure. But too often that first flush of downtime prompts you to take risks. What’s more, travel exposes you to all sorts of bugs and unexpected health challenges. Here, strategies for heading off some common vacation spoilers:

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In the Air

The problem: Take a few hundred people, pack them in an enclosed cylinder with recycled air and unwashed surfaces for several hours, and germs have a field day.
The challenge: Tray tables, bathroom doorknobs and fixtures, seat rests, you name it. “Everyone is touching everything on a plane,” says Dr. Mark K. Huntington, a family physician and travel medicine expert in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. And there are plenty of airborne bugs, too, thanks to coughs and sneezes.

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On the Road or at Sea

The problem: Whether you call it carsickness or seasickness, that urpy feeling is a real downer.
The challenge: Your body, inner ear and eyes send conflicting signals to your brain, causing vomiting, dizziness and fatigue.

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In Your Hotel Room

The problem: Can you say “bed bugs”?
The challenge: Even the best hotels may harbor the critters, which dine on humans as they sleep. The bites can be a minor (but creepy) itchy annoyance or, in some people, cause an allergic reaction.

Wining and Dining

How Not to Get Sick on Vacation

At long last, your vacation is about to start. Whether you’re planning to lounge at the beach, cruise the Caribbean, go on Safari, or finally visit those Civil War battlefields, you’re counting the minutes until departure. But too often that first flush of downtime prompts you to take risks. What’s more, travel exposes you to all sorts of bugs and unexpected health challenges. Here, strategies for heading off some common vacation spoilers:

iStock Photo

How Not to Get Sick on Vacation

At long last, your vacation is about to start. Whether you’re planning to lounge at the beach, cruise the Caribbean, go on Safari, or finally visit those Civil War battlefields, you’re counting the minutes until departure. But too often that first flush of downtime prompts you to take risks. What’s more, travel exposes you to all sorts of bugs and unexpected health challenges. Here, strategies for heading off some common vacation spoilers: